I want to say I love you
by linh cinder
Summary: "He bit down harder on his lip, trying not to think about how rosy Leo's cheeks were, or how his hair glowed like a halo in the light of the lamp, and how just the sight of Leo lying on his bed was enough to make him shiver. Jason was wrecked, honestly." In which Jason discovers he's not as straight as he thought he was. {valgrace; multichaptered; for notyourleo}
1. Stay the night with me

this entire story arc was born from my undying love for valgrace, and also my love for charlie/notyourleo, who had a birthday recently! happy belated birthday charlie! hope you enjoy like the story!

 **prompt:** cramming until 3 in the morning and having to sleep over at each others house AU

 **summary:** Jason has just very recently come to terms with the fact that he is so, _so_ very not straight, and he's kind of in love with this guy, but he doesn't know how to tell him. At least not without screwing something up.

* * *

"Hey Leo," Jason started, trying to stifle a yawn as he turned a page in his textbook. "Did you get to number twelve yet?"

Behind him, Leo groaned from his spot on the bed. Jason didn't even bother to turn around as he heard his friend shift on the mattress, and the sound of papers sliding off of the bed and down to the floor.

"Nah," Leo croaked behind him, and from his long pause and jumbled speech, Jason could tell that he had fallen asleep. "Not yet." Jason spun around just in time to see him rub his eyes, his curly hair sticking up all over the place and slightly matted to one side. "Wha' time is it?"

"Um." Jason glanced down at his watch. "About two."

Leo scrubbed at his eyes vigorously, his knuckles pale. " _Ugh_ \- okay. Lemme…lemme get back to work."

As Leo yawned and gathered his bearings, Jason turned back to his work, chewing at his lip as he absently poked the eraser of his pencil into his cheek and flipped another age in his textbook.

He heard Leo unzip his backpack behind him. Jason quickly flipped to a fresh page in his notebook, because the one he had been writing on was pretty much covered in doodles of Leo. He bit down harder on his lip, trying not to think about how rosy Leo's cheeks were when he first woke up, or how his hair glowed like a halo in the light of the lamp, or how pink his lips were, and how just the sight of Leo lying on his bed was enough to make him shiver. Jason was _wrecked,_ honestly. But this wasn't a date, or anything like one. This was was just him, helping Leo study for their midterms, and that was that. Nothing else. Nothing more, no matter how much he wanted it to be.

The springs in Jason's mattress groaned, and he heard the soft pad of Leo's footsteps on the wooden floor behind him. Jason stilled, and was about to turn to ask Leo where he was going when Leo suddenly appeared over his shoulder, practically breathing down his neck.

Jason stiffened. Leo squinted at his notes, hopefully unaware of how much Jason was freaking out in his head.

"You sure number five's right?" he asked in a probing tone, and Jason's had just parted his lips to blurt out an answer when Leo took a second look and made another face. "Oh, wait - it is. My bad. I forgot to change the four to a negative, damn. Can I use this?"

He plucked the pencil out of Jason's hand, not bothering to wait for an answer.

"Thanks. Anyways, I could use some coffee." Leo ground the eraser of Jason's pencil onto his paper as if his life depended on it. "You have some downstairs?"

"I really don't think you need any," said Jason because, wow, had Leo only been up for five minutes? How was he this alert?

"Sure I do," Leo replied, looking down at his paper in satisfaction before writing down his revised answer. "If I don't get some, I'll probably crash into your bed again, which is, like, totally impolite. Plus, I gotta drive home soon, so - "

"Drive? It's super late, man. It's unsafe to go out now."

"Well, I won't leave _now,_ but when I do go, I'll guess I'll just scrape up some change and grab a shitty cup from McDonald's and - "

"Stay the night with me."

Jason had said it so sudden and so loudly that the only thoughts going on in his head were _Was that gay? Well I mean it was - and like, I am, but I mean - did that_ sound _gay? Did he catch on to me? Is he even straight?_

But then Leo just blinked in surprise, closing his Calc book as he tucked Jason's pencil behind his ear. "Oh, uh, sure, yeah. Thanks. Am I on the floor?"

Jason stared at him. _No,_ he thought. _You are on the bed. With me. Both you and I. On my bed. All night. Alone._

"No," he blurted, and he cursed himself for sounding so, well...eager. "I mean, I am. I'll sleep on the floor." He rubbed his sweaty palms on his jeans and smiled a crooked grin. "Aw, c'mon Valdez, have more faith. I know how to treat my guests."

Leo grinned. "Silly me, lo siento." Then he split his textbook back open and went back to studying, like the conversation didn't even happen, and like Jason hadn't even had a mental breakdown while he contemplated how gay his actions were.

Jason went back to freaking out in silence, staring at his textbook while his frantic brain began taking the information on the page and making it spin and whirl around in his vision, instantly becoming unintelligible madness. Maybe this wasn't a good idea. Maybe he should have just let Leo drink the shitty McFreakin' coffee from down the block and then sent him on his way. If Jason was getting this distracted just by thinking about him staying the whole night, then how the hell was he going to react when he actually _did?_

He tried to focus on his notes once more, but when that didn't work out, he slammed his book shut, making Leo jump.

"Um," he squeaked when Leo raised his eyebrows at him. "Sorry. I - I wasn't feeling Calculus anymore."

Leo snorted, mirth dancing in his chocolate brown eyes. "Same." Then turned back down to his book, scribbling furiously with a highlighter.

Jason took a few steadying breaths, some in, then out. He checked his watch. It was two forty seven in the morning.

"Are you tired yet?" He asked Leo, and while he didn't exactly sound like it, Jason could see the slump in Leo's shoulders, and the languid way he flipped through pages, even though he seemed to be working as intently as he could.

"Kinda," Leo answered truthfully, and then he yawned in confirmation. "You want to call it a night?"

"We don't have to," Jason offered as he chewed his lip, even though they kind of did. Tests started at eight tomorrow, and if they stayed up any longer, then they probably weren't going to get much more than four hours of sleep.

"What do you wanna do?" Leo asked, shutting his book, which was good, because it meant that he had Leo's attention. While Leo rubbed his eyes again, Jason slipped his notebook into his backpack and slid it over to a corner so it would be out of the way.

"We could play videogames," he offered, holding up one of the controllers that he kept in a bin under his bed. "Or something else, if you don't want to. Or we could watch Friends, since you like it so much." Leo grinned slightly at that, almost a little wistfully. "Or American Horror Story, whatever you want."

"I'd loooove to procrastinate sleep with you, honestly," Leo said in a rapidly dazed voice, "But I'm gonna have to turn you down. Estoy _muy_ cansado. I'm gonna hit the hay."

Jason nodded curtly. "Okay. Me too, I guess."

Leo shoved his stuff off of Jason's bed, getting all close and cuddly with the pillows. Jason tried to stop his heart from beating so fast as he slid out of his jeans, opening his drawer to pull out his pajama pants as Leo sighed contently across the room.

Jason started to slide his pants on and was busy focusing on _not_ turning around when Leo asked, "Can I borrow a pair?"

Jason glanced over his shoulder. Leo was staring at him, slightly wide-eyed.

"Um," Jason's voice cracked, and he winced at himself as he pulled out a pair of plaid pajama pants. "They might be kind of big, but…" he tossed them over.

Leo caught them, not looking Jason in the eye. "Thanks."

The two of the settled into things. Jason was just about to turn off the light and head into the hall to get some blankets from the closet when Leo spoke up once more.

"Um - Jace...you sure you wanna sleep on the floor? I mean, it looks kind of uncomfortable…and I kind of feel bad for kicking you out of your own bed, so - "

Jason turned back to him, shaking his head in earnest. "It's not a problem. Just...catch some sleep for me, will you?" He turned off the light and stepped out into the hall, and something in his chest fluttered, because there was no way in hell Leo was sleeping on that floor, not when Jason cared about him so much, or when he thought he deserved the best, and wouldn't settle for him having anything less.

He had his hand on the doorknob when Leo said: "You could sleep with me."

Jason's mouth went dry. He spun around, and Leo's eyes were as wide as saucers. They regarded each other in a few seconds of intensely awkward blushing before Leo finally composed himself and stammered out a reply.

" - In the bed! Sleep with me in the bed, as in share, not like - um - anything else, haha, yeah!" He let out a nervous laugh and scooted over on the mattress, hastily making Jason some room. "Heh, yeah, that came out wrong."

"No, no, it's - it's fine." Jason ran a hand along his face. Leo was really, _really_ sending him mixed messages right now. Smiling, Jason let his shoulders sag and exhaled a deep breath, his cheeks still slightly heated. "Um...thanks."

He crawled into that bed so fast that anyone else would have found it suspicious.

Leo shifted further to the other side of the bed, but he was warm, and Jason couldn't help but find himself drawing closer to him, even after that entire awkward situation that had unfolded just moments before. It pained him to notice Leo moving away, but after a while Leo started moving a little closer, too, until they were only a few inches apart and their limbs bumped together. Jason took shallow breaths, feeling hot and bothered and really awkward (which was an ongoing trend, it seemed) - but once some time had passed, and Jason had settled properly under the red, white and blue Captain America bed sheets, he started to calm down. His breaths came regularly, his heart rate slowed, and he found his eyes sliding closed at times, signaling that sleep was near. Next to him, Leo took deep and counted breaths. Leo had his back turned to him, so Jason couldn't see his face, but watching the rise and fall of his small form calmed him, and as the time ticked by on the alarm clock across the room, he found himself more and more at ease.

It was nearly three fifteen in the morning, and Jason, being laden with sleep, moved so close to Leo that he could practically smell the homey scent of grease and motor oil. The only indication that Leo was still awake was the stiffness of his shoulders when Jason snaked an arm around them, pulling him close.

"G'night." he muttered sleepily, his speech yawned and his eyelids turning to lead.

Leo relaxed, moving closer before snuggling into Jason. "Night, Jace."

It was nothing but sweet dreams from there.


	2. First Dance

thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! this chapter is kind of a predecessor to chapter one. this is where/when jason's crush first formed at the end of junior year, but most (if not all) of the other chapters take place in senior year

 **prompt:** "Our friends grouped up for prom but we're the only two without a date let's hang out" AU

* * *

"So, it's Grace, right?"

Jason couldn't focus. The music in the dance hall was pounding, and with all the flashing lights and moving bodies, he couldn't just pinpoint one thing. Well, except for Leo—who he had seen around school a lot, getting into trouble and hanging with his close friend Piper—because, well. He was really nice. _Really_ nice. And not so hard on the eyes.

Jason gave him a half grin, absently tugging on his bowtie as he took a sip of the soda in his cup. "Yeah, that's me. Jason Grace. What did you think my last name was this whole time? Like, we've talked plenty of times, maybe not one-on-one like now, but still plenty."

Leo made a face, which well...didn't look so bad on him either. "I don't know. Blondie? Hunk? I just took some wild guesses."

Jason grinned goofily over the rim of his cup, completely charmed. "You think I'm a hunk?"

"Well, I mean, yeah. Doesn't everybody?"

Before he could respond, Piper appeared next to them, a huge smile on her face as she toted her friend Reyna around, who looked just as pleased as her. They had their arms hooked together, and Piper practically bounced on her heels, her eyes lighting up enthusiastically as music continued to pound in Jason's ears.

"Hey guys!" she had to speak loudly to be heard over the music, which the DJ had apparently taken up a notch. She looked stunning in a short black dress and gold earrings, her hair tucked up into a bun. Reyna looked gorgeous too, and her purple dress was long and regal in comparison to Piper's. "Is this dance great or what?"

"Or what," said Leo with a snort, and when Piper stuck her tongue out at him, he stuck his out right back at her. Jason smiled in amusement, then turned to Reyna as the other two lapsed into conversation.

"Think you're going to win Prom Queen?"

"I _know_ I'm going to win it, Grace," Reyna said matter-of-factly, placing her hands on her hips like a true champ. "Just for the sake of beating Drew's ass." Jason laughed. That was some good motivation. "I hope you all voted for me, guys. Or when I win, I'll make sure you're all punished dungeon-style."

"I'll go talk to the staff to see if I can change my ballot, then," he replied, and when Reyna smacked him on the arm, he laughed. They turned back towards their other friends, and Piper and Leo were beginning to get into a very heated raspberry-blowing contest when the mic squealed and the Student Council Vice President appeared onstage in a fancy tailored suit.

Malcolm cleared his throat before giving the students a wide grin. "Is everybody having fun tonight?"

"Wooo!" various cheers went up around the room, including from Jason, who raised his cup. He glanced over in Leo and Piper's direction. Both of them were hollering and cheering on with the rest.

"Great! Well, I just came to announce that voting time for Prom King and Queen is almost over! If you still have your slip or haven't filled one out yet, then head over to the booth set up in the back! Mrs. Wilkerson is there to supervise! With that said, keep having fun guys! But don't forget to take it slow!"

On his last words, the DJ started up a slow song, and a collective cheer was brought up from the majority of the teens. Leo groaned loudly, but Piper smiled slyly, clutching Reyna's hand in a death grip.

"Bye!" she chirped, and before Reyna even had time to protest, she dragged her off to the floor, where they started slow dancing with everybody else. Jason slunk back to his spot by the refreshments table, and Leo followed suit, leaning next to him on the wall as they watched their friends sway back and forth in sync.

"I can't believe this," Leo started, his tone a half-hearted whine. Jason turned to look at him, and didn't expect to notice how captivating Leo's eyes were as the lights from the disco danced in them. He found himself breathless for a moment before paying attention again. "Practically all of our friends have dates, and he we are, dateless. Percy has Annabeth, Frank has Hazel, Charlie has Silena—"

 _You have me,_ he found himself wanting to say, and whoa—what? What was _that_ supposed to mean?

Jason shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Um, yeah, I guess you're right. What a bummer."

He bit his lip as Leo continued to survey the floor. It was strange seeing the other boy like this—in suspenders and converse, with pinstripe pants and his sleeves rolled halfway up. Jason had never noticed Leo's dimples before, or how bright his eyes were, or how he absently swept a lock of curly hair behind his ear when something was bothering him. In fact, he hadn't paid attention to anyone like this in a long time—not ever since he first met Piper, right before they had started dating last summer. This was kind of the same, but still oddly different. Jason had never looked at a guy like this before, never felt _this_ way about any dude. This was...weird, but _good_ weird. And, well...kind of gay. But still really, really weird.

Jason was startled back into reality when a sigh escaped the shorter boy's lips, which he had not-so-subtly been staring at.

"I wish they could put on a different song so I could dance," Leo grumbled, and Jason didn't know what it was about the way he had said it (everything that came out of Leo's mouth sounded hot to him) and without even thinking, Jason replied with the most out-of-this-world thing he's pretty sure he's ever said.

"I can make that happen."

Before Leo could look at him like he was crazy, his body went into auto-pilot and his hand took Leo's in his. Heart pounding, Jason led him out of the hall through the back door, his brain practically screaming _no_ while his heart kept him going. Leo didn't complain, but he had a very confused and slightly interested face as Jason led them as far away as they could get, turning random corners through decorated halls and going down a couple of corridors until they reached the grand doors of the estate that the dance was being held in—and then the doors opened to cool, crisp, night, where flowers bloomed in pots and holders all over the garden, and classical statuettes sat waiting for something to happen under a canopy of late-night stars.

Jason finally let go of Leo's hand, turning to him with what he hoped wasn't a dopey grin as he pulled out his phone. "Any selections?"

His brain chided his latest antics. _Jason, you chivalrous little shit._

Leo blinked, his cheeks glowing slightly red under the electric torches that dotted the cobblestone path. His mouth twisted into a grin, which grew by the second and made Jason's heart beat like a hummingbird's.

"Wow, just—" he laughed, running a hand through his curly hair as he did, and it was such a blithe and breathy sound that Jason decided it was probably the best laugh in the world. "Wow, uh okay. This is happening." Leo ran a hand along his face, shaking his head in disbelief, smiling fondly all the while. "Uh...hm. You think you could you play I'll Be There by The Jackson 5? Not the Mariah Carey cover, I'm not a fan."

"Sure." It took a few seconds, but Jason searched it up online and went through the list, finally finding the song that Leo had requested. When it started playing, Leo's previously amused expression turned to something more sincere, and Jason was a bit hesitant to start dancing, because he felt like he'd be ruining Leo's train of thought.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked softly after a while, and he stepped up to Leo as an unsaid request to dance. Leo responded automatically, stepping up to take Jason's hands, and Jason clasped them in his.

"My mom." Leo answered, and Jason could tell that, in that moment, Leo's thoughts were far away. "She loved this song a lot, so...it kind of grew on me." He sighed dolefully before looking back at Jason, his expression shifting back to mirth and amusement. Jason was going to ask him why he had looked so somber, but decided against it as Leo stepped up even closer to him. "Well, enough of that. You gonna lead or not?"

"Or not." They both grinned.

Jason hit the play button with one hand, then placed the phone down on the base of a statue before the two of them started moving along.

 _You and I must make a pact, we must bring salvation back...Where there is love, I'll be there._

Jason stepped back. Leo followed, looking down mostly at their feet to make sure that they didn't mess up, but Jason didn't bother. He knew they wouldn't. He took a risk and moved one of his hands further down to the small of Leo's back before the song carried on, moving to the chorus. Leo said nothing about it, so he guessed it was okay.

 _And oh—I'll be there to comfort you, build my world of dreams around you, I'm so glad that I found you_

"Man, I like this song," Leo muttered under his breath, almost wistfully, and Jason smiled at him slightly, suddenly out of breath again because _wow,_ he thought. _I think I like you._

He didn't know how he didn't notice before—how enticing Leo was, how cute and lively and amusing he could be. Jason had always hung out with Piper, and Leo had always trailed along, both of them taking turns as the plus one's in their little friend group—and if Jason had spoken to Leo before now, he's sure he wouldn't have fallen for him this hard, that his crash and burn would have been a little less crash and a little more burning, as hot as the red glow in his cheeks.

 _Damn,_ Jason thought. He was definitely queer, wasn't he? He mulled this over, wondering why he hadn't noticed before. Was it age? Maturity? Hormones? He didn't know. All he knew for sure was that he was definitely in love with Leo. And that he was a lot less straight than he previously thought.

The realization hit him like a brick.

They kept dancing, but Jason started to internally freak out. _Whoa, wait, this is not what straight guys do, is it?_ The depth of his predicament began to settle in, and he started to get worried, because things were bound to get awkward soon if Leo got any closer and, uh—noticed how _excited_ parts of him were—and then his hands started to sweat, and his heart beat faster, and Leo kind of yawned a little bit and rested his head on Jason's shoulder, and he kind of lost footing because _goddamn that was so adorable,_ and then he accidentally tripped Leo up.

He was practically having a heart attack as Leo stumbled into him, and he had already formed a rushed apology in his head when the sound of a loud crash broke his train of thought.

Someone screamed within the grand hall, the sound floating down over one of the balconies and reaching them in the back garden. They broke apart, the music still echoing, and even though Jason was shocked, he still found himself looking at Leo, who looked up at the balcony with the most exaggerated _what the hell_ face he had ever seen in his life.

The statues remained motionless, looking eerie and imposing as the last echoes of the scream resonated into the atmosphere. The stars above twinkled dimly as a cold feeling crept over them, and Leo spoke first, the song and dance forgotten.

"What the hell wa— "

" _Gaaah!"_ The grand doors to the garden slammed open to reveal Drew Tanaka, one of the Prom Queen nominees. Her dress was huge, frilly, and pink, more like a spray painted wedding gown than a prom dress. The most noticeable thing about it was a huge dark stain on the front, where it looked like she'd been rolling in a bunch of punch. Which may have been true, because when Jason and Leo hastily parted to let her stomp between them and through the garden, the smell that wafted up was of fruit punch flavored soda.

"I can't _believe_ this!" she shrieked, her dark hair flying as she stomped past in her five-inch heels. Students quickly spilled into the garden, filling the corridor inside as they took pictures and laughed while Drew continued to angrily stomp down the stairs.

"Fuck _all of you!"_ she flashed the students both fingers before a sleek, dark limo pulled up, right on time apparently. She got inside, glared venomously past her ruined makeup, and slammed the door shut, the limo sliding out of the lot with as much ease as it had come.

The students around them cheered, and Jason just blinked, because— _um, wow, okay._

He heard heels clicking in his direction, and both Leo and Jason turned around to see Piper and Reyna running towards them with their skirts clutched in hand, Reyna donned with a crown.

"So. Guess who won?" is all Piper said with a smirk, and then, because the whole thing was silly, Leo started laughing. Jason laughed, too, then shook his head with an exasperated grin. That was crazy. _He_ was crazy. This had been one hell of a night.

Upstairs, a pop song started playing, and a bunch of students whooped before they started to file back into the building. Piper and Reyna motioned for them to follow with huge grins, and Jason had just taken his first step towards them when Leo slid in his path, stopping Jason in his tracks.

Before Jason could ask what was going on, Leo took his hand.

For a split second, he blushed profusely while his brain chanted _kiss me, kiss me, kiss me,_ over and over again, which was totally uncalled for, but then Leo pressed something into his palm, and when Jason tore his gaze away from his eyes, he looked down to see that it was his phone. He smiled up sheepishly, ( _God,_ he was such an airhead sometimes) and Leo's grin grew to a smirk. He took Jason's other hand in his and started leading him towards the building.

"Thanks for the dance, Jason _Hunk."_ Jason's face heated up at that, and Leo smirked again, clearly pleased. They fell in step with each other, and the shorter boy bumped his shoulder, his smirk softening again. "You still technically owe me half a dance, but..." He bit his lip. "We should do this again sometime."


End file.
